Arpaio enters realm of reality TV

New show to debut Saturday featuring Valley residents wanted for various offenses

by Terry Tang - Dec. 26, 2008 07:06 PMAssociated Press

In Arizona, seeing Sheriff Joe Arpaio on TV is nothing new. But the self-described "America's toughest sheriff" now has a national platform to pursue lawbreakers that stretches beyond the 5 o'clock news.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, which oversees the state's most populous county, has a starring role in Smile ... You're Under Arrest!, a new reality show debuting Saturday on Fox Reality Channel.

A cross between Punk'd and Cops, the program sets up elaborate sting operations to snare people wanted on outstanding warrants. Actors and undercover deputies play along in faux scenarios where scofflaws are enticed to have a good time before doing time. The "gotcha" drama comes when cast members reveal the prank and waiting deputies slap handcuffs on the offender.

Arpaio, who has been accused of being publicity-hungry more than once, says the show is not about fame-seeking. The show's producers approached him, he added.

"This is just another outside-the-box effort to join forces with the private industry/Hollywood to use certain techniques," Arpaio said. "It's entertainment. But on the other hand, we're able to accomplish a mission and also arrest people out on warrants."

While it has yet to air, some are already casting Smile as just the latest in a laundry list of quirky actions taken by Arpaio.

The sheriff is known for overseeing the Tent City Jail, where inmates are housed under surplus military tents. In Maricopa County jails, inmates don old-fashioned prison stripes and work on chain gangs. They also wear pink boxers -- the color supposedly discourages inmates from swiping them.

But Arpaio has fielded harsher criticism in recent years for how things operate behind the scenes. The Sheriff's Office has paid millions of dollars in settlements involving dead or injured inmates. Still, county officials have generally approved of inmates' treatment in the jails. Between these occurrences and the sheriff's controversial crime sweeps, Arpaio has attracted his fair share of detractors.

"The reality is the man has lost complete touch with reality," said Michael Manning, a Phoenix attorney who has won settlements for clients against the Sheriff's Office. "He's spending time on something like this as opposed to getting those felony warrants executed on our streets. He's demonstrated how he's completely out of touch with what he needs to be doing. If it weren't so serious, I'd say it would be funny."

Arpaio, meanwhile, said he's just doing his job. His critics, he said, are the ones out of touch and gunning for publicity.

"It's the same little group of people that try to get me defeated. Well, I was just re-elected for the fifth time. The people like what I'm doing," Arpaio said.

Producer Scott Satin, the show's creator whose credits include Who Wants to be a Superhero? on the Sci-Fi Channel, looked at multiple law-enforcement agencies before extending a legitimate offer to the sheriff.

"I just think he's quite the character, and he's great on camera. Sheriff Joe, he's willing to go out and get these guys and do whatever it takes," Satin said. "The problem is there's so many outstanding warrants, there's simply not enough manpower to go out and execute these warrants."

For Arpaio, it was hard to see a down side to accepting the free resources that came with the show. Producers paid for all the materials, Satin said. And it was up to deputies if they wanted to participate off the clock.

"It's a service that we did," Satin said. "Like I said, they don't have that much manpower. No big city does. We stepped in and saved them a fortune. Police didn't have to go in and find these guys. They were able to focus on more serious criminals."

The program, which filmed episodes around metropolitan Phoenix last year, sent thousands of mailers from a phony promotional company offering a $300 prize to fugitives they considered low-level -- not involved in violent crimes. Those who responded got invited to a staged event usually littered with tongue-in-cheek behind-bars references.

In one episode, "J.L. Thyme" limo service chauffeurs an unsuspecting wanted man to a Scottsdale nightclub. He is then coaxed into strutting down a catwalk for a new fashion line that also happens to include a black-and-white striped jailbird Halloween costume. Meanwhile, Arpaio is mainly seen watching from a nearby command center with officers and Smile staffers.

So far, three half-hour episodes are in the can. Depending on the ratings, the network is open to doing more, Satin said.

Arpaio also credits the mailings for at least 400 arrests due to fugitives still answering them after the show wrapped.

Every arrested person featured on the show must sign a release form giving the network permission to air the footage. So far, nobody hauled away on camera has refused.

"I think they wanted their 15 minutes, even if it was spent in handcuffs," Satin said. "Not one person tried to run or raised their voice. Their attitude was like when your brother plays a trick on you. I can't tell you how many times I heard, 'That was a good one.' "

Police commonly lure wanted felons with fake solicitations -- just not to the level that Smile does.

"This is spawned from real police work ... ultimately what we were doing was taking that as a jumping-off point," said Dave Sheridan, one of the show's actors. "What they're already doing in police work, what if we're doing some really elaborate pranks where people have to go through hoops and barrels?"

Sheridan doesn't think the series compromises the integrity of officers, either. It's the suspects who are mocked, he said.

Arpaio said taking part in the TV stings didn't deter him from his regular work. In all, he spent only a few hours on the set during filming.

"I can sacrifice one hour to participate in one program to take bad guys off the street," Arpaio said.

Arpaio said the show sends a message that evading the law isn't worth it.

"All you people that read this article," he said, "Joe Arpaio's got one word for you: 'Surrender.' "